Living Landscape 1.0

Living Landscape 1.0 is the first design in a series, in which the landscape experience of the house is the central theme. The traditional Dutch housing typology with a back-to-back orientation at a density of approximately 36 dwellings per hectare forms the starting point of the design. For reasons of feasibility, we strive to achieve a similar density. Living Landscape 1.0 dwellings are not back-to-back situated, but front to back. Therefore all the dwellings and gardens have an optimal orientation towards the sun. The plots also faces the street sideways, which gives the gardens a connection with the street. This enhances the liveliness in the neighbourhood, unlike the conventional configuration where the private life mostly takes place in the private (back-to-back) gardens. For children, this extension of the garden into the street offers a lot of additional playing opportunities. By shifting the houses relative to one another semi-detached houses are created. The sculptural roofs of the houses are also the visual boundaries of the private gardens. From the living room it appears that the horizon has lifted, which enlarges the garden. All the roofs are covered with grass to enhance this effect.

Besides the urban configuration, the dwelling itself possesses exceptional spatial qualities. The living room is deliberately located on the first floor under the sculptural roof, to maximize the amount of daylight entering the room. The other rooms such as bedrooms, bathrooms and storage are located on the ground floor. To allow more light between the two smaller bedrooms, a small patio is proposed. The dining room on the first floor is also adjacent to this patio so more daylight is admitted. In addition, this patio creates beautiful visual relationships within the dwelling.
The garden is also the place where the dwelling can expand, for example a studio or an extra bedroom can be added. Surprisingly this does not reduce the size of the garden. It actually creates two different gardens, a patio area and a new spacious roof garden.